Finding Freelance Writing Opportunities for Beginners

The early stages of a freelance writing career are the most crucial. If you’re thinking about entering this industry, you’ll be happy to know that many have been where you are now, and it is possible for you to get a decent head start by doing things right from the get go.

All it takes is a little bit of thought about which direction you want to go. Finding clients is another aspect that can take long if you’re not sure how to do it or if you don’t have any experience. Then there’s the question of how much you should be charging as a new freelance writer. Here are some pointers pertaining to these factors.

• Decide on your area of writing

The first thing a new freelance writer should do is sit him or herself down and brainstorm exactly what they want to achieve. Ask yourself what it will take to reach your goal and where you see yourself going. An important part of this process is deciding which area of writing you’d like to enter.

• If you’re a curious, talkative, outgoing person, you may want to consider journalism
• If you enjoy researching subjects and writing interesting how-to articles about certain niches such as fitness or nutrition, then blogging is the direction for you
• If you’re into marketing and advertising, then SEO articles—or sales writing—is the way to go
• If you love the world of IT and the internet, then try your hand at website writing—such as home pages, about us pages, and product pages


• Take a short course

Once you have established your direction, it’s really worth taking a course on how to do it. Sure, no one doubts that you have talent, but refining that talent is just as important as loving what you do. If you really can’t afford it, then try a few free courses on the internet; however paid for courses do cover a lot more ground.

• How to get passed the experience barrier

Once you’re confident that you know what you’re doing, you need to convince people that you can create great content for them. If you are failing to clinch jobs, the best course of action is to either work for very cheap to start off with, or just offer your services to some local companies for free. Experience is worth the money you sacrifice and having something behind you will give you the confidence and learning experience you need to finally take on a job from a paying client. Many professional writers start their career from academic writing. Think about this option, it may have a lot of advantages.